artist, interaction designer, phd researcher

MAP-it is a hands-on tool used to plan, analyse and reconstruct past and future projects and spaces, which has been used in many participatory urban design projects.

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MAP-it is a hands-on tool used to plan, analyse and reconstruct past and future projects and spaces. It is a method to visualise a process in space and time, in a low-tech, open and flexible manner. It can be used in various situations, such as a brainstorm, debriefing, interview. MAP-it is an open tool, with all elements (scenario, stickers, manual) freely available, so you can experiment and organise a session yourself. However if you would like us to collaborate or assist with your participatory mapping project, you can contact me or Social Spaces.

I visited two archives of the Belgian Army to research the cartography of defence lines.

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In the process of developing #Plant, a public art project installed in a military heritage area, I visited two archives of the Belgian Army to research the cartography of defence lines. On the attached map, bunkers are indicated with dots, the thicker lines are an anti-tank canal, and the yellow triangles are the fields of fire. It occurred to me that visually, this giant war machine looks almost organic, which inspired me for the further development of the #Plant project.

#Plant is a cartography of a 1940 military defence line, transformed in an interactive light installation powered by solar cells.

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#Plant is an public art intervention in an military heritage site around Antwerp, Belgium. It is a cartography of a 1940 military defence line, transformed in an interactive light installation powered by solar cells. The intervention is installed inside and on top of a bunker.

In Void 2 and Void 1, an obstacle was added to the pavement that pedestrians had to avoid. Obstacles were later removed digitally. Void 0 represents a situation of free momovement, a state without any blockages.

A walk on the subtle play of trajectories in space, with our own bodies being a dynamic obstacle for others.

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Welcome to the Urban Obstacles Guided Tour

Today we will take you on an half an hour walk. David Helbich and myself, Thomas Laureyssens, will be your guides. We won't say much during the walk, except for some brief interruptions and commentaries.

The essence of our walk is the subtle play of movement in space. We would like you to watch, feel and listen carefully, intensively. Observing both yourself, us as a group and the dynamics that play with the other users of the city. This project is not so much about actual route we are walking, more about the interactions that we create while walking it.

The city is a complex emergent system in constant evolution, impossible to grasp as a whole. Meanings on the city are formed by trajectories through this emerging mass. These trajectories are not without their subtle influence: in the act of walking we 'occupy' the space when we walk through it. We reconfigure the space by the simple act of being there. Even when we are just passive observers, we can be obstacles for others in their own trajectories. In a dynamic system, there is no such thing as an indefinite obstacle. There are only changed trajectories.

As the practicalities of this walk concerned, David and I will both follow slightly different trajectories. It's up to you to decide which one of us to follow, you create your own walk. And may I ask you - the participants - to stay silent during the walk. Speak only the bare necessary, since chattery is an obstacle to the observation of the subtle. And is subtlety that we're looking for in this walk.